Tulsi Gabbard has resigned from her role as Director of National Intelligence in the administration of Donald Trump, saying she wants to step away from public service after her husband was diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.
Gabbard informed President Trump of her decision during a meeting in the Oval Office on Friday. Her final day as head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is expected to be June 30.
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In her resignation letter, Gabbard said her husband, Abraham Williams, had recently received the diagnosis and she could no longer continue in such a demanding role while he battles the illness.
“My husband, Abraham, has recently been diagnosed with an extremely rare form of bone cancer,” she wrote. “At this time, I must step away from public service to be by his side and fully support him through this battle.”
She described Abraham as “my rock” throughout their 11 years of marriage and credited his support during military deployments, political campaigns and her tenure in government. Gabbard added that she could not “in good conscience” leave him to face the illness alone.
However, according to a Reuters report citing a person familiar with the matter, the White House had allegedly forced Gabbard to resign. No official reason beyond her resignation letter has been confirmed publicly.
President Trump later acknowledged her departure, saying, “Unfortunately, Tulsi Gabbard will be leaving the administration on June 30th.” He also announced that Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence Aaron Lukas would take over as Acting DNI following her exit.
Gabbard thanked Trump in her letter for trusting her with the top intelligence role and said she was “deeply grateful” for the opportunity to lead the ODNI over the past year and a half. She also pledged to ensure a smooth transition before leaving office.
The 43-year-old politician made history as the first Hindu member of the US Congress and has often been perceived as being of Indian origin because of her faith and cultural background. However, Gabbard was born in American Samoa and grew up in Hawaii and the Philippines. Her mother later developed a strong interest in Hinduism.
Her resignation marks the end of a high-profile and often controversial tenure. During her time as DNI, Gabbard oversaw major changes across the US intelligence community, including efforts to reduce the agency’s size and cut annual costs by more than $700 million.
She also dismantled diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and declassified more than 500,000 pages of government records. These included files linked to the Trump-Russia investigation, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, and documents tied to the “Crossfire Hurricane” probe into Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
Gabbard’s exit makes her one of several senior officials to leave Trump’s administration in recent months, following the departures of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Labour Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer amid growing political and administrative pressures.
